Matthias opened his mouth — then shut it again. He couldn't know exactly what he was signing on to. He couldn't know what choices he'd face, what agonizing options he'd have to decide between. But he knew he was doing the right thing.
Mr. Talbot put his hand on Matthias's other shoulder then and gave it a gentle squeeze. The three of them— Mike, Mr. Talbot, and Matthias — were linked in a little circle around the kitchen table, as if they were holding some sacred ceremony. But Matthias knew the circle of people working for good extended far beyond that kitchen table: to Nina, Trey, Lee and all the 'others' she'd mentioned back at Population Police headquarters, to Mr. Hendricks and Mrs. Talbot elsewhere in the house, maybe even to Percy and Alia someday if the fight continued that long.
Matthias thought about what Mike had said most people would do if they'd been in Matthias's place at Population Police headquarters; he thought about the frightened people who'd taken their food back to the Population Police after the warehouse was destroyed. Most people, he realized, could see only the Population Police's power. But he knew the force for good was even stronger.
He reached up and put one arm around Mike's shoulder and one arm around Mr. Talbot's, and that was like his part of the ceremony, his sacred pact.
We
